Here is What Hedge Funds and Insiders Think About Quanex Building Products Corporation (NX)

Should Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) investors track the following data?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of gauges investors can use to monitor Mr. Market. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outperform the market by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as crucial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to look at the marketplace. There are a variety of reasons for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Now that that's out of the way, let's discuss the latest info for Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX).

Hedge fund activity in Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX)

Heading into Q3, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Odey Asset Management Group, managed by Crispin Odey, holds the most valuable position in Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX). Odey Asset Management Group has a $112.3 million position in the stock, comprising 4.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Odey Asset Management Group's heels is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $49 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Jeffrey Gates's Gates Capital Management, Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold's LMR Partners and Michael Price's MFP Investors.

Since Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) has witnessed a fall in interest from upper-tier hedge fund managers, logic holds that there lies a certain "tier" of hedge funds who were dropping their entire stakes in Q1. Interestingly, Matthew Hulsizer's PEAK6 Capital Management said goodbye to the largest stake of the "upper crust" of funds we watch, totaling close to $0.5 million in stock, and Matthew Tewksbury of Stevens Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.3 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How are insiders trading Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We'll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX). These stocks are Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG), Headwaters Inc (NYSE:HW), Universal Forest Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI), Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF), and AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON). This group of stocks are the members of the general building materials industry and their market caps resemble NX's market cap.

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# of Insiders Buying
# of Insiders Selling

Using the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey's strategies, regular investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) is no exception.